Heaven Dou Royal Academy

After three days of shopping in Heaven Dou City, Ning Rongrong finally made a serious suggestion. "Handsome Master, let's go have a look at Heaven Dou Royal Academy!"

Yi Yun lay on the inn bed with one leg crossed over the other. "What would we go there for?"

"My family funds that academy. I've played there since I was little. Now that we're in Heaven Dou City, it wouldn't be right not to visit."

Ning Rongrong tugged Yi Yun's sleeve back and forth. "Besides, Heaven Dou Royal Academy is one of the best Soul Master Academies on the continent. There are lots of powerful people there. Maybe someone could trade a few moves with you, Handsome Master."

"Trade moves?" Yi Yun thought it over. He could count the people on the entire continent who could trade moves with him on one hand, and they were all in Spirit Hall, not Heaven Dou Royal Academy. But Ning Rongrong kept shaking his sleeve, making his head spin.

"Fine, fine, fine. We'll go, we'll go."

Xiao Wu poked her head over from beside them. "I'm coming too!"

Zhu Zhuqing nodded. "I'm coming too."

Tang San stood in the doorway, holding a carrot. It wasn't for him to eat; he was holding it for Xiao Wu.

"I'm coming too."

"What are you going for?" Yi Yun asked.

"To watch the gate."

"...All right."

Heaven Dou Royal Academy stood to the east of Heaven Dou City, occupying over a thousand mu. Its perimeter wall alone was thirty feet high, topped with golden glazed tiles that glittered in the sunlight.

The main gate was built of white marble, with six large gilded characters carved into its lintel: "Heaven Dou Royal Academy."

Two guards stood at the entrance, both middle-aged men in their forties or fifties, wearing matching uniforms with Soul Saint badges pinned to their chests. Soul Saints serving as gate guards-that was the foundation of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's confidence.

Yi Yun approached the main gate with three girls and a lackey. Before he could speak, the guards stopped him.

"Stop!" A guard held out his hand, looking Yi Yun's group up and down.

Yi Yun, who led the way, wore white and looked like a wealthy young gentleman. Three girls followed him, each more beautiful than the last.

Bringing up the rear was a boy in a short gray tunic, holding a carrot. No matter how one looked at him, he seemed like a lackey.

"Who are you people?" the guard demanded rudely. "This is Heaven Dou Royal Academy. No unauthorized visitors!"

"We're here to..." Ning Rongrong had just started speaking when Yi Yun stopped her.

"Hold on." Yi Yun looked at the guard, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "What did you just say?"

"I said no unauthorized visitors!" The guard waved impatiently. "Go on, get out of here. This isn't a place for you to play."

Yi Yun didn't leave. He stood where he was, looking at the guard, his smile unchanged. Then he released his Soul Power. It wasn't an attack or a technique, just a simple release.

The Soul Power of a level 99 Peerless Douluo surged from his body like a tsunami.

The faces of the two guards at the entrance changed instantly. That pressure weighed on their shoulders like a mountain.

Soul Saints though they were, they couldn't even remain standing under that pressure. With a thud, both guards dropped to their knees at the same time.

"S-sir!" The guard's voice trembled. "P-please, come in!"

"Aren't I an unauthorized visitor?" Yi Yun withdrew his Soul Power and asked with a beaming smile.

"No! Absolutely not! You're an honored guest of Heaven Dou Royal Academy!" The guard knelt on the ground, not daring even to raise his head.

"And the people behind me?"

"Honored guests too! They're all honored guests!"

Yi Yun nodded, then turned to Tang San. "Let's go, gatekeeper."

Tang San followed him inside, expressionless. He had noticed that whenever Yi Yun crushed someone with his strength, he always wore a beaming smile, looking utterly harmless. Yet the people he crushed wished they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

People like that were the most frightening. They slapped you in the face and still made you feel they were joking with you.

As they walked, Ning Rongrong glanced back at the two guards still kneeling on the ground and couldn't help laughing. "Handsome Master, you scared them out of their wits."

"Whose fault is that?" Yi Yun said. "They were the ones who insisted on stopping us."

"But showing them your Titled Douluo strength right away was a bit ruthless, wasn't it?"

"What else should I have done? Reason with them?"

Ning Rongrong thought it over and decided he was right. Even a whole day of reasoning with Soul Saints would get nowhere. Better to show them some strength and settle the problem in a second.

Xiao Wu walked beside Yi Yun, tugging his sleeve. "Brother Yun, you looked so handsome just now."

"When am I not handsome?"

"That's true."

Walking behind them, Zhu Zhuqing looked at Yi Yun's back, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. She remembered the first time she had met him. He had been just like this then, smiling as he effortlessly threw Dai Mubai out of the city.

This man seemed never to get angry, yet even when he wasn't angry, he was more frightening than people who were.

Tang San walked at the very back, silently gnawing on the carrot. He no longer wanted to say anything.

The inside of Heaven Dou Royal Academy was even grander than the outside. Its main avenue was fifty feet wide, lined with ginkgo trees, their golden leaves carpeting the ground.

The teaching buildings were Western in style, with red bricks, white windows, and spires on their rooftops, like castles from a fairy tale.

The training grounds were ten times larger than Nuoding Academy's field, with dedicated areas for Soul Power testing, combat, and physical training. There was even an artificial lake, with a small bridge across it and a pavilion on the bridge.

Ning Rongrong introduced everything as they walked, like a little tour guide. Yi Yun looked around as he went, marveling inwardly. So this was an aristocratic academy. It belonged to an entirely different world from a commoners' school like Nuoding Academy.

Tang San's impression was more immediate. Even the air here smelled better than at Nuoding Academy.

But he knew he didn't belong here.

He was a commoner, a Blue Silver Grass good-for-nothing, a Pole Vault clown, the laughingstock of the entire school.

At a place like Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he was only fit to watch the gate, not enter it.